Raymond James Financial Inc. Takes Position in Virtu Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:VIRT)

Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Virtu Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:VIRT - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm acquired 341,825 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $12,196,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. owned approximately 0.22% of Virtu Financial at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in VIRT. Blue Trust Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Virtu Financial by 13.0% in the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 2,794 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $100,000 after purchasing an additional 322 shares in the last quarter. Hanseatic Management Services Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Virtu Financial by 1.2% in the 4th quarter. Hanseatic Management Services Inc. now owns 30,132 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,075,000 after purchasing an additional 371 shares in the last quarter. HBW Advisory Services LLC raised its holdings in shares of Virtu Financial by 6.8% in the 4th quarter. HBW Advisory Services LLC now owns 7,974 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $285,000 after purchasing an additional 509 shares in the last quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Virtu Financial by 172.7% in the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 870 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 551 shares in the last quarter. Finally, R Squared Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Virtu Financial in the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. Institutional investors own 45.78% of the company's stock.

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Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on VIRT shares. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of Virtu Financial from $31.00 to $33.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Piper Sandler boosted their price objective on shares of Virtu Financial from $35.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Virtu Financial currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $31.36.

Virtu Financial Stock Down 0.4 %

Shares of NASDAQ VIRT traded down $0.14 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $37.58. 1,425,805 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,133,864. The company has a quick ratio of 0.46, a current ratio of 1.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17. The company has a market cap of $5.82 billion, a PE ratio of 12.65, a PEG ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 0.57. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $37.18 and a 200-day moving average price of $35.10. Virtu Financial, Inc. has a 12 month low of $20.07 and a 12 month high of $41.38.

Virtu Financial (NASDAQ:VIRT - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The financial services provider reported $1.09 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.77 by $0.32. Virtu Financial had a net margin of 9.61% and a return on equity of 27.39%. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Virtu Financial, Inc. will post 3.13 EPS for the current year.

Virtu Financial Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 28th were given a dividend of $0.24 per share. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.55%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 28th. Virtu Financial's dividend payout ratio is presently 32.32%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Virtu Financial news, COO Brett Fairclough sold 72,967 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $36.84, for a total transaction of $2,688,104.28. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 90,749 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,343,193.16. The trade was a 44.57 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Stephen Cavoli sold 34,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $37.41, for a total transaction of $1,271,940.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 157,703 shares in the company, valued at $5,899,669.23. This trade represents a 17.74 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 140,967 shares of company stock valued at $5,213,964. Insiders own 46.70% of the company's stock.

About Virtu Financial

Virtu Financial, Inc operates as a financial services company in the United States, Asia Pacific, Canada, EMEA, Ireland, and internationally. The company operates through two segments, Market Making and Execution Services. Its product includes offerings in execution, liquidity sourcing, analytics and broker-neutral, capital markets, and multi-dealer platforms in workflow technology.